Coronavirus Discussion

[purplehaze]

5 hours ago, Astreya said:

Meanwhile on the other side of the Great Pond...

Quote

Lockdown protests may have spread virus widely, cellphone data suggests - Devices associated with protesters travelled up to hundreds of miles after rallies where few precautions were taken

 

Cellphone location data suggests that demonstrators at anti-lockdown protests – some of which have been connected with Covid-19 cases – are often traveling hundreds of miles to events, returning to all parts of their states, and even crossing into neighboring ones.

The data, provided to the Guardian by the progressive campaign group the Committee to Protect Medicare, raises the prospect that the protests will play a role in spreading the coronavirus epidemic to areas which have, so far, experienced relatively few infections.

Source:  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/18/lockdown-protests-spread-coronavirus-cellphone-data

 

No surprise there. Frustrating as heck, but not surprising. These protesters are largely from extreme right-wing groups that stir up local unrest and then move on. And they couldn't care less about protecting other people. They must have their "rights", you know.

 

Latest figures from Maryland:

Number of confirmed cases : 39,762
Number of negative test results : 161,744
Number of confirmed deaths : 1,903
Number of probable deaths : 120
Currently hospitalized : 1,447
Acute care : 892
Intensive care : 555
Ever hospitalized : 7,086
Released from isolation : 2,817

Confirmed cases up almost 1000.

27 new deaths.

But hospital and ICU figures are down somewhat.

[olympe]

3 hours ago, purplehaze said:

No surprise there. Frustrating as heck, but not surprising. These protesters are largely from extreme right-wing groups that stir up local unrest and then move on. And they couldn't care less about protecting other people. They must have their "rights", you know.

(Bold by me for emphasis.) That's why they're called right-wing...  Although a renaming into "rights-wing" might be in order.

[ValidEmotions]

Hmmm I'd more reclassify them as "Rights-For-Me-Only-Wing" or "Everyone's-Rights-When-Convenient-Wing" because, well, you know how they are about denying rights for everyone who falls into marginalized groups.

8 hours ago, Ruby Eyes said:

I wish covid tests were as available (and reliable) as pregnancy tests are nowadays ...

Oh, but, you test and test and test and all these things come up negative until, suddenly, it doesn't so the whole concept isn't exactly great. I mean, the more you test, the more likely you are to have increasing case numbers. So, as Trump suggests, let's just not test anyone and keep our case numbers down. That'd work, right?

 

/sarcasm in case someone doesn't understand.

[Ruby Eyes]

I'd just like to be able to test without being DEPENDENT on a doctor who says "oh so you say you got the symptoms but have you been in CONTACT with a CONFIRMED case?" How the heck would I know which kind of person passed by me in the past?!

I'm feeling somewhat sick for months already and that's absolutely not the usual thing for me. And that's when I have to fight to convince a doctor to listen?! Because that has worked so well in the past, yeah.

 

It hasn't. Doctors are probably the only profession, besides the undertakers, who don't have to fear for lack of customers. And thus, they don't need to listen, or so they think. But even worse are the people who are filtering out the patients already before the doctor. When my mother asked for a blood test because she was not feeling well (a very unusual thing for her, with her fear of doctors in general), the front desk nurse told her "You're not really sick, so we'll give you an appointment in about 5 weeks."

Next week on Monday, my mother will have been dead for a year already. I really don't like being dependent on doctors for certain things.

[Astreya]

@Ruby Eyes

Maybe just tell the doctor that you were coughed at by some guy who said "Haha - I have Corona and now you have it too!"  - and then he ran away, and you were too shocked to do anything about it?

[ValidEmotions]

Women have always been disregarded most by healthcare providers. Our cases are always minimized and/or out right ignored because we "over exaggerate". Women of color have had it even worse. The study of medicine is notoriously male-focused, tackling first the medical issues that ail men before even acknowledging it might exist in women, but then still expecting women to respond or follow the same exact treatment that's worked for men (which doesn't always work wonders for women). 

 

Calling people "customers" isn't accurate, in my opinion. To call us customers is to assume we have a choice in what we are consuming. And, sure, technically we have a choice about going to get medical help or not. But healthcare is a necessity, not a commodity. 

[olympe]

Unfortunately, it's very true even here that many doctors seem to marginalize what people do have. I'm not sure it's just women, but I've definitely encountered it. Repeatedly. Which is why I don't like doctors all that much. I dislike the staff that work for doctors even less.

 

When I had chickenpox at the youthful age of 27, we still had to pay 10 € each quartal we visited a doctor for the first time. Guess what? My chickenpox visit was my first, I had to pay - but no money on me. (Oops.) I told that dear lady that my mother was just finding a parking spot for her car before she would come in, and she'd sure pay for me when she arrived. But, to no avail. That damn harpy insisted I go get the money now, or wait outside until I have it. Needless to say, I left and never came back. The doctor I visited instead was a good choice at the time, as he had a trick up his sleeve. Cetirizine works wonders against the itching chickenpox is famous for. 12/10, would do again.

[purpledragonclaw]

When you have a for-profit healthcare system like the U.S. does, "customer" or "consumer" is probably more appropriate than "patient". Our wellbeing does not come first in too many cases. Kaiser has a 15-minute limit on how long doctors can see their patients (this was accurate as of a couple of years ago, and the last time I went in to see my doctor for routine care). When I went into the ER last year, the doctor (not my typical doctor) saw me for less than 10 minutes. It's a patient mill. Some hospitals may be different, and some insurance providers may be different, this is just my anecdotal experience with Kaiser.

 

I love my doctor, she's been with me since I was a child, but I don't want to take time off of work or deal with the cost of the visit. I'll go in an emergency, and that's about it.

 

Meanwhile, nurses in Belgium protested their Prime Minister's visit over working conditions and pay yesterday. Belgium has a fairly high coronavirus death rate, although the number of cases has started to fall. And back to America, Eric Trump is claiming the coronavirus is a hoax that will magically disappear after the election. Apparently the world is colluding against his father so he can't hold rallies anymore. I've almost hit my quota of stupidity for the day thanks to this.

 

 

 

[Astreya]

Daily update for Oberhausen, NRW, Germany:

 

As of today, Tuesday, May 19, 09:00 GMT+2,  my home town (population 211 000) has 22 active cases, while 224 people have recovered. All in all there have been 253 people who suffered from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.

The number of newly infected people per 100 000 citizens in the last 7 days is 2.4.

 

Currently 5 persons are treated in hospitals, no one of them in intensive care. 7 persons sadly died. 183 persons are currently quarantined. All in all there have been 8524 Covid-19 tests in Oberhausen so far. There are further structured tests in care home, but fortunately so far there were no new cases in such.

 

Source: https://www.oberhausen.de/de/index/rathaus/verwaltung/umwelt-gesundheit-und-mobilitat/gesundheit/aktuelle_informationen/informationen_zum_coronavirus/aktuelle_meldungen.php

 

[olympe]

16 hours ago, purpledragonclaw said:

And back to America, Eric Trump is claiming the coronavirus is a hoax that will magically disappear after the election. Apparently the world is colluding against his father so he can't hold rallies anymore. I've almost hit my quota of stupidity for the day thanks to this.

Apparently, the (rotten) apple doesn't fall far from the (rotten) tree.

[purplehaze]

Figures for Maryland as of 10 am today:

Number of confirmed cases : 41,546
Number of negative test results : 167,112
Number of confirmed deaths : 1,963
Number of probable deaths : 118
Currently hospitalized : 1,421
Acute care : 884
Intensive care : 537
Ever hospitalized : 7,199
Released from isolation : 2,868

1,784 new cases and 60 new deaths since yesterday. And this before any effects from the phase 1 reopening could be apparent.

 

And President Trump has announced to the world that he is taking hydroxychloroquine preventively. Somehow he got the White House doctor to agree to give it to him because after all, "what have you got to lose!" Again, people will probably suffer and die because of him -- and not only those who are stupid enough to follow his lead, but the lupus and rheumatoid arthritis patients who will not be able to get it to treat their conditions (for which its use is approved) because of all those who will rush to take it because he does.

[Astreya]

8 minutes ago, purplehaze said:

And President Trump has announced to the world that he is taking hydroxychloroquine preventively. Somehow he got the White House doctor to agree to give it to him because after all, "what have you got to lose!" Again, people will probably suffer and die because of him -- and not only those who are stupid enough to follow his lead, but the lupus and rheumatoid arthritis patients who will not be able to get it to treat their conditions (for which its use is approved) because of all those who will rush to take it because he does.

Frankly, for me this means there are two main possibilities:

1. Mr.Trump is lying and he doesn't actually take it, but his promotion is supposed to increase the sales as he / his family / his cronies have stakes in the companies producing the stuff.

2. Mr.Trump is really taking it and "his" doctors hope that he will get heart problems as side-effect of the medication to get him out of the White House...

[purpledragonclaw]

My money's on 1. I believe almost nothing he says; telling ~18,000 lies during his presidency alone will do that. I really want the paper trail on who recently invested in this drug to see if they have ties to him. What's really galling about this is last month lupus patients had to deal with hydroxychloroquine shortages due to people purchasing it for coronavirus treatment. 

Edited May 19, 2020 by purpledragonclaw
Typo

[trystan]

this is me throughout this entire thread (and since Jan 2017, really)

 

 

is it election day yet?

[purpledragonclaw]

Heads-up, Floridians (cc @AngelsSin)! The woman behind Florida's covid-19 dashboard has been removed from her post. The dashboard was a crucial tool in tracking covid-19 cases in the state, and there's (very valid, in my opinion) concern that her transparency with the numbers is the reason she was removed. The site has been experiencing issues for a few weeks with data going "missing" from it. Looks like Florida's going to try to cook the books on their covid-19 cases to justify re-opening the state. 

[olympe]

Why am I not surprised?

 

Also, some Trump-approved fake vid taken almost directly from Independence Day (the movie): 

 

[Astreya]

@purpledragonclaw

You know there is a psychological defence mechanism called "psychological projection", where - in a nutshell - the person whose ego can'tcope with their own failures accuses some other targets of exactly the failures one refuses to see in others. 

 

So now you should be better able to understand why Mr.Trump accuses China, Russia and whom ever else he loves to target to do exactly what he is doing himself, that is, making data he doesn't like simply disappear (or at least call it "fake").

[JaneMcAsh]

3 hours ago, trystan said:

this is me throughout this entire thread (and since Jan 2017, really)

 

 

is it election day yet?

Yup!  Hubby has taken to hiding when I read the news (paper/ABC/CNN).

[trystan]

1 hour ago, purpledragonclaw said:

The dashboard was a crucial tool in tracking covid-19 cases in the state, and there's (very valid, in my opinion) concern that her transparency with the numbers is the reason she was removed. The site has been experiencing issues for a few weeks with data going "missing" from it. Looks like Florida's going to try to cook the books on their covid-19 cases to justify re-opening the state. 

tracking this thing is very crucial to humans and our existence.  we're not fooling anyone if we try to cook the books! 🤯

 

22 minutes ago, Astreya said:

You know there is a psychological defence mechanism called "psychological projection", where - in a nutshell - the person whose ego can'tcope with their own failures accuses some other targets of exactly the failures one refuses to see in others. 

i saw something (probably on facebook) that trump should open a movie theater with all this projection he's been doing!!

 

6 minutes ago, JaneMcAsh said:

Yup!  Hubby has taken to hiding when I read the news

hubby and i both have the SmartNews app, but by the time i tell him all the stuff that i'm reading, he's already seen it a few times already... so now i just ask "I guess you saw this item then...."

 

47 minutes ago, olympe said:

some Trump-approved fake vid taken almost directly from Independence Day (the movie): 

completely despicable.  there's no reason to ruin a perfectly good speech from an awesome movie like that.  

[olympe]

10 minutes ago, trystan said:

completely despicable.  there's no reason to ruin a perfectly good speech from an awesome movie like that.

100% agree. Trump is nothing like the movie president Whitmore. Nothing at all. He's not someone who'll fight in the front row. He's not someone who manages to inspire his whole nation, much less the rest of the world to join any fight. He's not someone who manages to unite people despite their differences, but someone who divide people because of differences he quite often creates himself. Trump cannot do a couple of sentences without stuttering or repeating his sentences.

 

But, yeah, I can see why he likes to imagine himself to be like Whitmore.

[trystan]

16 minutes ago, olympe said:

Nothing at all. He's not someone who'll fight in the front row. He's not someone who manages to inspire his whole nation, much less the rest of the world to join any fight. He's not someone who manages to unite people despite their differences, but someone who divide people because of differences he quite often creates himself.

although he did manage to unite quite a lot of people against him!  

 

also, because a Fox News host, Neil Cavuto, criticized trump for taking hydroxychloroquine (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/18/trump-goes-after-fox-news-host-in-twitter-flurry-267390), trump now wants a new network that will give him all that favorable coverage {{sigh}}

[olympe]

Since China can be really underhanded, it might be possible for a Chinese-owned news network in the States to actually agree to this. With the idea that, if Trump has another 4 years, he'll be so sure to run his country into the ground that it can only be beneficial for China.

 

On another note, a German train driver made an announcement that's kinda related to both covid and conspiracy theories. (Not a word-by-word translation, as I only have a summary of the beginning.)

"All passengers are required to wear a face mask. If you don't have a mask, you can buy one in the on-board bistro. And to all conspiracy theorists out there: Be aware that the government collects saliva samples in order to produce clones to replace you. Always wear a face mask to prevent the government from getting access to your DNA. Many thanks also from your fellow travellers."

 

[trystan]

trump seems to have a love-hate relationship with China - some days he loves them, other days he hates them.

 

4 minutes ago, olympe said:

"All passengers are required to wear a face mask. If you don't have a mask, you can buy one in the on-board bistro. And to all conspiracy theorists out there: Be aware that the government collects saliva samples in order to produce clones to replace you. Always wear a face mask to prevent the government from getting access to your DNA. Many thanks also from your fellow travellers."

ooh, i like that! 👍

[Lagie]

28 minutes ago, olympe said:

On another note, a German train driver made an announcement that's kinda related to both covid and conspiracy theories. (Not a word-by-word translation, as I only have a summary of the beginning.)

"All passengers are required to wear a face mask. If you don't have a mask, you can buy one in the on-board bistro. And to all conspiracy theorists out there: Be aware that the government collects saliva samples in order to produce clones to replace you. Always wear a face mask to prevent the government from getting access to your DNA. Many thanks also from your fellow travellers."

That's awesome!

 

[trystan]

i saw a cartoon meme on facebook about wearing a mask with your nose out.  it was ... i was quite amused by it